Researchers from Zhejiang University, Zhiyuan Research Institute and Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications have reported a thin elastic conductive nanocomposite that is formed by cryogenically transferring laser-induced graphene (LIG) to a hydrogel film.
The low-temperature atmosphere enhances the interfacial bonding between the defective porous graphene and the crystallized water within the hydrogel. Using the hydrogel as an energy dissipation interface and out-of-plane electrical path, continuously deflected cracks can be induced in the LIG leading to an over fivefold enhancement in intrinsic stretchability.
The team used the approach to create multifunctional wearable sensors for on-skin monitoring and cardiac patches for in vivo detection.
In their work, the authors propose a viable strategy to construct ultrathin carbon-hydrogel-based stretchable nanocomposites for integrated sensor systems, enabling diverse applications in wearable/implantable bioelectronics and human-machine interactions.